Fitness with a flare is merely an understatement when it comes to the Mark Fisher Program. Finally, fitness for the “misfits,” meaning those of us who aren’t natural gym rats and aren’t drawn to traditional methods of fitness. I can’t tell you just how excited I was to have the pleasure of getting to know more about Mark Fisher and his groundbreaking program. “We pride ourselves on working with people that don’t feel comfortable in traditional gyms. MFF was born out of my time working with members of the Broadway community, so we’ve always had a flair to the way we teach fitness. We call our clients Ninjas, our mascot is the unicorn, and we don’t love the word gym. We call our homes ‘The Enchanted Ninja Clubhouses of Glory and Dreams’,” Mark describes. However, there aren’t enough words to really describe this program. You really have to see for yourself!
The Mark Fisher program is far from ordinary. He takes a fun, whimsical approach to fitness that appeals to a lot people who don’t feel comfortable in a traditional gym setting. Mark created this form of fitness based on his own experiences. He felt that their was a need for a place in the fitness world for people like him.
I completely agree.
Not to mention, I think the whole concept is very cool. Unlike any other approach to fitness that I have seen.
True Calling
I really wanted to know what experiences did this program stem from. And Mark was more than willing to share his background. “I was not someone who grew up identifying with myself as an athlete. I was always insecure about feeling skinny and weak, and I was not a huge fan of gym class.
By the time I was finishing up high school, I finally decided to do something about my insecurity about my body and joined a gym.
It was NOT a natural fit, haha.
But over the years, I fell more and more in love with it. And eventually, I become downright obsessed. I devoured everything I could about training, nutrition, movement, and physiology.
I found my true calling sharing my passion for fitness with people who don’t feel spoken to by more traditional fitness options. People like me when I began my journey! I wanted to provide high quality, evidence-based information, but do so in a way that was fun, kind, welcoming, and accessible,” Mark explains.
Fitness for Us
I could certainly relate to Mark’s experience as I am sure many of you all can too. It’s not always easy to take a liking to fitness, especially when you think the only option is spending daunting hours in the gym every week. Mark’s program allows for a more fun-filled approach that is still highly effective. My question to Mark was, how does he incorporate so much of his eccentric tactics, yet make them produce the results? “It’s a combination of high quality fitness based on a solid understanding of physiology, nutrition, and strength and conditioning best practices. But it is delivered in a manner appropriate for the “general population” (non-professional athletes) and covered in a chocolate sauce of madness and kindness.,” Mark describes.
The program goes beyond just physical activity, but it is also about educating others on all of the elements that contribute to health and fitness. It is also Mark’s way of share something he really enjoys, in a fun-loving way. “This is really just an outgrowth of my own eccentric personality and my desire to serve my particular community of friends. I knew I’d have a blast sharing fitness in a way that was truly self-expressive and that my friends would enjoy,” Mark excitedly states!
How do you people typically respond to your style and your training initially?
We’re pretty good about creating a “marketing onion.” For the most part, by the time someone is in our space, they know what they’re getting into.
It’s also worth noting, MFF is almost always anticlimactic haha. The space is unconventional, the team is welcoming and kind, and there’s lots of laughing going on. And dirty words, and occasionally costumes!
But for the most part, it’s not actually all that different from what you’d see in any of the nation’s leading fitness studios.
Do you ever tell people “look this probably isn’t for you”? If so, can you tell me a story about it?
We’ve found if you’re clear about who you are and what you stand for, you don’t have to do that much. People are either immediately into it, or they know it’s not the right fit for them.
What advice would you give to a young person today who wanted to ditch a sedentary lifestyle and become more fit and healthy?
For most people, the biggest step is just to start doing something. The older I get, the more agnostic I become.
If it’s just to get started, I think you’re best to find something you actually like and that works for you logistically. We don’t want to make perfect the enemy of the good and look for the “best” workout. So long as you’re doing what you love, that’s the best place to start.
And in fact, when you’re starting, the most under-appreciated key is to start slowly. You don’t need to start working out six times a week for an hour. You can start with 2-3 long walks per week and slowly build from there.
Where should they focus most of their energy to get the most bang for their proverbial buck?
At the end of the day, it’s ideal to find some training regime that allows for your joints to get through a full range of motion, to experience the basic patterns of human movement, to learn to bear reasonable load, and to elevate your heart rate.
I think a base of strength training and full body movement is a great base for most people if they’re just looking for general conditioning.
Mark Fisher
Website:
Markfisherfitness.com
Businessforunicorns.com
markfisherhumanbeing.com
